About the fund

PCIP created a Curriculum Innovation Fund to provide academic units support for innovative curriculum projects at the program and course level. The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) administers this fund of approximately $250,000 per year for 2012 to 2016.

Projects it supports

Projects supported by the fund should have a curricular focus - changing or developing the content or methods of a collection of credit-bearing courses (major, theme, minor, specialization, certificate, etc.).

New or revised curricula should also focus on improving the student experience, with preference given to proposals that address identified institutional priorities:

support for consultants (such as travel costs for visiting scholars) required to inform/contribute to the project,

costs associated with data gathering, analysis, and program evaluation.

Please Note: The Curriculum Innovation Fund is not intended to fund research projects. While it is anticipated that units may include requests to support program evaluation work related to their curriculum, those requests will be supported from this fund only as related to the development or ongoing renewal of curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Funding Allocation Process

Every proposed project that generally meets the requirements above will be supported to some extent, at minimum through advice and consultation with GMCTL staff. Projects requiring funds to pay direct costs to the academic unit or funds required to pay for services from another unit (eg ITS, eMAP) will be considered for funding allocation.

Funding allocations from the Curriculum Innovation Fund to offset these types of direct costs incurred will be determined as follows:

Funding allocations up to the value of one 3-cu sessional stipend (approximately $6500) may be authorized by the Director of the Gwenna Moss Centre on the basis of a pre-proposal alone

Proposals for larger amounts of funding must be reviewed/approved by the Curriculum Innovation Committee, chaired by the Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning.

Membership on this Curriculum Innovation Committee will be established by the VPTL in consultation with the Associate Deans Academic.

The Curriculum Innovation Committee will meet regularly to consider project proposals and will make timely decisions.

The Curriculum Innovation Committee will determine a schedule for releasing funds to the unit, appropriate to the budget and project milestones.

All successful projects will be matched with a GMCTE staff curriculum specialist or instructional designer to support the ongoing work of the academic unit identified in the proposal.

Terms of Reference

Proposals must meet the following requirements:

Projects supported by the fund should have a curricular focus - changing or developing the content or methods of a collection of credit bearing courses (major, theme, minor, specialization, certificate, etc.)

Strong commitment by the department/college to the initiative (or colleges/departments if an interdisciplinary initiative).

A plan for implementation of some innovative practice in the curriculum, preferably connected to identified institutional priorities (experiential learning, Aboriginal education, internationalization, and innovative uses of learning technologies including online programs or courses).

A commitment of a lead person or team of people (whether disciplinary or interdisciplinary) to see the project through to implementation.

An expected positive impact on student learning or the student learning experience.

How to apply

There will be a two-step process for project approvals. First, academic units wishing to pursue projects will submit an initial proposal of 1-2 pages outlining the project idea. Initial proposals may be submitted to the GMCTL at any time.

Initial Proposals

The initial proposal should include:

A brief description of the proposed activity, practice or innovation

An explanation of the level of faculty / staff involvement and a primary contact person

A rough estimate of the costs (both developmental and ongoing) anticipated with the project

A summary of the expected impact on students or the student experience

A preliminary plan for measuring success

Comprehensive proposals

Depending on the scope and funding requirements (amounts of more than $6500) of your project, additional documentation may be required, as a comprehensive proposal.

A more comprehensive proposal is prepared in partnership with staff from the Gwenna Moss Centre. These more detailed, comprehensive proposals are judged by the Curriculum Innovation Committee. Successful proposals receive funding to offset direct costs associated with curriculum or program development.

The comprehensive project proposal should be no more than 5 pages long and should include:

A detailed description of the proposed activity, practice or innovation

An explanation of the level of faculty / staff involvement (ie. who will lead the project?, who will be involved?)

A description of the expected impact on students or the student experience

A timeline for the project

A proposed budget – details about what direct costs would be required from the Curriculum Innovation Fund and what costs would be contributed by the unit.

A rationale for how the innovation will ultimately sustain itself

A preliminary program evaluation plan to evaluate the impact of the curriculum change

It is expected that some projects will need no funding and will be able to proceed largely on their own with some GMCTE staff support and consultation. It is anticipated that funded projects will be eligible to receive between $5000 and $40,000 to offset direct costs in the unit.